14 Ways to Get Ideas

Mitch Ditkoff's Article

The first suggestion of Ditkoff's is that we need to let our fascination in an idea take hold and grow, no matter how insignificant or impractical they may seem at the onset. Next, he suggests that you cut off focus to everything but the subject that interests you most for several hours a day. Then he goes on to unfold the idea that confusion is necessary to the early stages of development. Ditkoff's fourth idea regards the forming of new connections between seemingly unrelated subjects, thus fostering innovation. Fifth, he encourages us to fantasize, because every idea known to man was originally just a fantasy, such as flight, space travel, or electricity. It is also very important to pose the correct question to a problem. That is half the battle, and it kicks off the process. Your subconscious is a powerful weapon when problem solving. If the challenge is initially too tough, it is a good idea to take a pause from actively working at it, and let your subconscious take over, or simply take a break altogether from the task. Next, it is a good idea to break down old patterns and ideas and reform them to your current needs. The tenth and possibly most important topic is that of diversity. You need to obtain views from a very wide range of the population to push your idea forward in an efficient manner. When all else fails, a good old-fashioned brainstorm list might be the key to your troubles. It is often beneficial to experiment with ideas in which you expect no result, because you might be pleasantly surprised. You will often need a spark of innovation to get the ball rolling. This can come in whatever way you see fit. Lastly, it is important sometimes just to let go--throw caution to the wind and revert to more basic instincts.

~IDEA #1

Ditkoff's idea that encourages us to follow our fascination is some of the best creative advice that I know of. At many points in my life, I find it much easier to be involved in a certain topic if it truly interests me. For example, I wrote a research paper on medieval warfare back in the 12th grade, and I had a very easy time with it because that was a topic that I could really dive into. The same goes for my creativity nowadays. I tend to shy away from things that don't interest me (opera music, abstract art, etc.), and gravitate towards things that do interest me (dramatic music, shirt design, video game modification, etc.). No matter what your profession, you will have a much better experience if it is something you truly are interested in. Turn your work into play. That is my objective.

~IDEA #5

As Ditkoff explains, fantasizing is a very important process in the development of ideas. I often picture an idea at the absolute optimum quality, regardless of whether it is possible or not. From that, I will remove the absolutely impossible aspects and drive the ones that are even remotely plausible forward. Usually, the majority of these emerge as a finished product that I am very happy with.

~IDEA #7

I often act on the talents of my subconscious when I am frustrated with a problem. I will leave the problem at the back of my mind, as Ditkoff's article suggests, and when I have that "light bulb idea moment", I will return to finish solving the issue. I make use of this when I'm stuck on the exact way I should piece together some programming code or finish a simple sudoku puzzle. It is a very satisfying experience when I act on this great idea to move forward in my creative process.

~PROMPT 1 ACTIVITY
What new idea is fascinating you? What new possibility has captured your attention?
In what ways can you honor this inspiration today?

The new idea that is fascinating me is one that combines many of my favorite aspects from different games. I want to combine aspects from an RPG (Role-Playing Game), an RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game, and a FPS (First-Person Shooter). No specific new possibility is pushing this, besides my future knowledge of game programming and animation. I have a booklet of ideas specific to the game that I continue to write in each day, so that once I obtain the knowledge to act on them, I can do so. This booklet is going to prove to be a great asset by that point in my career.